The Wedding
by TheSilverArgents
Summary: "Ace, you've got another thing coming if you think I ain't gonna cry today.


A/N: Okay, so a couple days ago I got a prompt from someone asking for Jack and Katherine's wedding day. But, my computer was being stupid and decided to shut down as I was writing it and it was subsequently deleted. So, I was at work today and I had an idea on how to kind of amp it up a bit. So, prepare yourselves; this one's long. Keep the prompts coming in!

They didn't have a big, lavish, church wedding like Katherine's mother asked of her a few times. They went to Medda's theater, brought the Justice of the Peace over from city hall, and all the guests sat in tables while Jack and Katherine got on stage and married each other. When Katherine told her mother their plan, she'd nearly had a heart attack, but she composed herself and begged that she let her buy the wedding dress. She agreed if only to spare her and Jack some sanity.

The day of the wedding saw Jack Kelly in his only tuxedo (Davey took him to buy it and it was the most uncomfortable thing in the world), a theatre filled with Newsies and people of high society alike, and enough food to feed all of New York. Jack stood on top of the stage, Crutchie, Davey, and Les (who'd just turned thirteen) in a line behind him. He bit the inside of his cheek impatiently, breathing in and out through his nose when the wedding march began.

Jack felt his heart stop in his chest. He heard Les mutter something to Davey who muttered something to Crutchie and he felt Crutchie lean a bit closer to him to whisper in his ear, "Davey says that Les says to tell you to pull yourself together." Jack nodded stiffly and heard the doors that lead into the theater open. Time seemed to move slower as everyone stood up and turned to face the doors as they revealed Katherine walking alone down the aisle.

Jack's heart stopped again and he whispered, "Christ." as his wife-to-be made her way to the stage. He was glad she'd listened to her mother because that dress seemed to be made for her, as if she was destined to get married in it. Jack put his hands over his mouth to attempt to hide his awe, but clearly it didn't work because he saw Katherine bite back a laugh. She walked up the steps of the stage sporting a huge grin and finally found herself in front of Jack.

"That was the longest walk of my life." She breathed out, her eyes latching onto his face and her smile seemed to grow even bigger.

"You're telling me." Jack replied, moving his hands from his mouth so that they could hold hers. "You look so…beautiful." he whispered, his voice becoming thick with emotion.

"You don't look so bad yourself, Kelly. You clean up very nicely." Katherine whispered back. "And stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're about to cry." She squeezed his hands and her eyes twinkled.

"Ace, you've got another thing coming if you think I ain't gonna cry today." He told her smiling. The Justice of the Peace cleared his throat and began the ceremony.

* * *

The ceremony ended with a longer than appropriate kiss, but they didn't really care. Nothing really made them happier than having to quit calling themselves other's fiancé because it was just a reminder of how close they were to being completely and officially (in the eyes of the law, at least) together. After the ceremony they walked off the stage and made their way to a table for two where two glasses of champagne were waiting for them.

The rest of the reception was a blur. People ate and laughed and danced and all in all had a phenomenal time. Medda danced with every Newsie at least twice, nearly making Crutchie collapse from exhaustion after one dance, and even danced with a few of the guests from Katherine's short, but sweet guest list. While Katherine was out waltzing with Spot Conlon (who surprised everyone with how he moved on the dance floor) Davey came in and plopped down in the empty chair next to Jack.

"Hell of a speech you made there, Davey-boy." Jack grinned at him before taking a sip from his flute of champagne. "What was that last part, again, I forget? 'Thank you both for teaching me to stand up for what I believe in?' I am truly touched, David, really I am."Davey rolled his eyes and elbowed him in the ribs, taking the glass of champagne away from him and taking a sip.

"Ay! Don't be such an ass, it's my wedding day!" Jack laughed trying to be angry and taking the champagne back and putting it on the table.

"You ever heard of taking your own advice?" Davey chuckled, loosening his tie slightly.

"Ha! I knew you was as uncomfortable as me in one'a these monkey suits!" Jack exclaimed banging a fist on the table in his excitement. He followed his friend's lead and loosened the tie ever so slightly.

Davey nodded absentmindedly, but his gaze was elsewhere. Jack followed his line of vision to see Joseph Pulitzer sitting next to his wife, his forefinger and thumb pressing into the bridge of his nose. "He look alright to you?" Davey asked him worriedly.

"He's probably just tired. Katherine says he's been having it out with this guy who's tryin' to get him to stop bein' editor of the World." Jack replied turning away from the man who'd now become his father-in-law.

Davey's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but Katherine was making her way over to the table and he snapped it shut immediately. "Hey, Davey. I've got a girlfriend of mine just dying to know your name."

Davey raised his eyebrows and inquired nonchalantly, "Oh yeah? Which one?"

Katherine chuckled and she said, "Okay, see the blonde in the green velvet dress? At your one o'clock? Her name's Clara, she's training to be a nurse. Go talk to her, don't tell her I told you she was asking, she gets incredibly shy."

"Um, okay then." Davey sprung up from the chair and fixed his tie and ran a hand through his hair. "Good?" He asked a bit nervously.

"As gorgeous as the day I first met ya." Jack assured him with a wink.

Davey and Katherine rolled their eyes and his wife (he'd never get tired of calling her that) sat in the chair that Davey had occupied, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Clara didn't really ask about Dave, did she?" Jack asked her clever plan dawning upon him a couple minutes too late.

"She's been so distracted with nursing school and Davey's been so distracted with law school, I just thought that maybe if they met by, you know, a happy accident or something they could hit it off and maybe give each other a break." Katherine tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of the intricate braid that her mother put it into behind her ear innocently and Jack stared at her, his mouth gaping open like a fish.

"Sneaky, sneaky girl." He shook his head fondly, "Knew I married ya for a reason." She laughed and angled herself so that her head lay on his shoulder. They watched Davey and Clara talk for a couple of minutes before he grabbed her hand an led her out onto the dance floor.

"It's high time he dance with someone that isn't Medda or I." Katherine smiled approvingly to herself.

Jack's gaze moved absentmindedly over the other guests and they landed back onto Pulitzer who was still in the same position as before, only a bit paler. "Hey Ace, you're dad ain't lookin' too great." He stated in a hushed whisper. She followed his gaze and pursed her lips, "I should go see him. He gets these headaches sometimes, he's not very good around loud noises." She craned her neck up to give him a quick peck on the lips before getting up to walk to the bar.

Jack saw her say something to the bartender and the bartender nodded, turning around to grab a glass and filled it with what looked to be seltzer water. After grabbing the drink she made her way to her parents' table with caution. When her mother noticed her, she got up to kiss her daughter on the cheek and left to speak to Medda.

Jack saw Katherine rock back on her heels the way she did when she was working up the nerve to do something and she stepped closer to her father, handing him the glass of seltzer. He looked up at her and took a sip of it, his face loosing some of the previous discomfort it held. They just stood there (well, Katherine did) for a moment.

Finally, Jack saw him say something to his daughter and she looked down and nodded. She blinked a couple of times and that's when Jack realized she's begun to cry. She wiped at her eyes and Pulitzer stood up, took a deep breath, and hugged Katherine. She wrapped her arms around him, hesitating for only a second. He pressed his lips to her head and quickly pulled his head back with a chuckle at something she must have said, but kept on hugging her. Finally, they pulled away at the same time and he handed her an envelope. He told her something and she nodded, taking a seat in the chair he occupied and he walked away from her.

It then hit Jack that Pulitzer was making his way towards him. He straightened his tie, stood a bit taller in his chair, and looked away from Katherine who was chatting with a woman who'd come to speak to her. "It's quite alright, Mr. Kelly. I know that you were watching us. Perfectly expected, of course." Pulitzer was now standing a couple feet away from Jack, his hand patting his breast pocket.

Jack stood up and held out his hand and Pulitzer took it, giving it a good, firm shake. "I just came over to give you this." He handed Jack an envelope that looked exactly like the one he gave Katherine. "I think you'll find I'm much better at expressing myself on paper more than I am in person." Jack only looked at the envelope questioningly.

"Open it after I've told you what I'm about to say." Pulitzer cleared his throat. "I know that you two never needed it, but I give you my blessing. The only time I ever saw her happier than she was walking down that aisle, I had gotten her her very first typewriter." He took a deep breath and Jack tried not to look as shocked as felt. "What I really want to say, Mr. Kelly is in that envelope. Open it once I've left you alone, please."

He began to walk away and Jack sat down in his chair, his mind racing with everything that just happened. He turned the envelope over in his hands and he looked around him to make sure no one was close by and carefully tore the envelope open. Jack unfolded a single, thick piece of paper. On it were two sentences written in thick, cursive handwriting:

_'My life is in your hands. Treat her well."_

A/N: If you'd like to know the actual dialogue from Katherine and Pulitzer's conversation PM me or message me off anon at this little site and I'll gladly give you all the details. Not-so-fun fact: Joseph Pulitzer suffered from occasional blindness, depression, and acute noise sensitivity and I really wanted to write some of that in this. I'm a total history nerd so not only was Newsies amazing as a musical theatre-goer, but from a historical standpoint it was pretty damn awesome! Some of you might be confused as to why I gave Pulitzer a "redemption" so to speak and I have so many reasons (that I'll answer if you send me a PM or an ask here about it off-anon, I don't bite I swear!), but the one I'll give right now is a quote from Joseph Pulitzer himself. "Every reporter is a hope and every editor is a disappointment." Love you guys! P.S The link to Katherine's wedding dress will be up on my profile page!


End file.
